Honoring the archivist

BURLINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY RECOGNIZES LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER VANDE SAND

By Jason Arndt STAFF WRITER

For decades, whenever a resident walked past the Burlington Historical Society and saw the light on, it was highly likely Don Vande Sand was inside scanning through thousands of documents.

A year ago, however, the lights dimmed after Vande Sande passed away unexpectedly.

But on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in January, the Burlington Historical Society opened its doors and hearts to the community, as the museum designated the second floor in honor of the long-time archivist.

The second floor, now known as the Don Vande Sande Research Center, holds the key to documents and photographs of Burlington history and surrounding areas with public access.

President Julie O’Neill, of the Burlington Historical Society, said Vande Sande played an important role at the museum.

“He did so much for the historical society and community and we wanted to honor the work that he did,” she said. “It was the perfect day to show the public how we are moving forward with his research.”

Vande Sand, who volunteered at the museum for more than 30 years, spent nearly every day in the building researching local history and uploading documents onto the website he helped launch.

According to O’Neill, all people needed to do was drive – or walk – by and see the light on.

“He came just about every single day. Everyone knew, if you drove by the museum and the light out front was on, Don was here and people were welcome to come in.”

Even when he left the building, according to O’Neill, Vande Sand would continue his research at home.

Dedicated to history

Vande Sand, born on May 15, 1939, passed away at his home on Jan. 17, 2022.

After graduating from local schools and colleges, including Burlington High School and the University of WisconsinWhitewater, he moved to Washington, D.C. and took a job as a senior supervisory auditor with the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Additionally, Vande Sand served in the U.S. Air Force reserve.

Past President Dennis Tully, who worked with Vande Sand at the museum for decades, remembers when he returned to Burlington to be close to his aging parents.

“His parents were really really involved in the early years of the society, and things started quieting down,” he said. “Don was working in Washington DC. He came back and his parents were getting up in years and he had that enthusiasm to start coming down to the museum and gathering materials.”

Vande Sand then spent several years reviewing documents, and decided to make most of the items available through the historical society website, accessible at burlingtonhistory.org.

He also spent time reaching out to area churches, requesting marriage records, vital statistics and baptism records to keep them preserved for the future.

“We wanted to share it with the rest of the community,” Tully said. “He spent countless hours, almost every single day of the week. He was very dedicated.”

Tully remembers working with Vande Sand on several projects, including gathering historical artifacts, which were oftentimes found in area homes.

When people moved out, or cleaned their attic, Tully and Vande Sand encouraged residents to donate the artifacts to the Burlington Historical Society instead of the discarding the items.